Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed an emergency regulation on Friday authorizing provisional teaching licenses to help address a teacher shortage in the state.
The emergency regulation allows the State Department of Public Instruction to immediately issue provisional teaching licenses. Those who receive provisional licenses will have up to one year to fulfill final requirements for licensure.
“Many people have been seeking solutions to the teacher shortage, and I am proud to support this measure from the Nevada Department of Education which will allow the state to immediately address the needs of our schools,” Sandoval said.
Nevada’s Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction Steve Canavero requested the emergency regulation after federal action cleared the way for it. President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act into law in December, which repealed a regulation that threatened to cut federal education funding to states that issued provisional teaching licenses.
“Nevada’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the nation, largely contributing to our dynamic population growth,” Sandoval said. “This emergency authorization capitalizes on that growth in a positive way and will specifically help the Clark County School District with its out-of-state teacher recruitment.”
The “emergency” designation enables the Department of Public Instruction to immediately issue provisional teaching licenses. Otherwise, it would take months for the new regulation to be codified under the standard regulation adoption process.
“A good teacher has the ability to improve a child’s education experience and a great teacher will help us transform Nevada’s delivery of education,” Canavero said. “I would like to thank Gov. Sandoval for taking immediate action, and I look forward to implementing this new policy across the Silver State.”
Sandoval took additional steps to address the teacher shortage in 2015, when he approved new teacher hiring incentives and authorized the Teach Nevada Scholarship, which aims to help recruit new teachers.